Airship port operations

ABSTRACT

A process for conducting port operations with a cargo-lifting airship that enables inspection of cargo lifted from a cargo ship while the cargo-lifting airship is in route to a destination. If the cargo fails inspection, the cargo may be delivered to quarantine. If the cargo passes inspection, it may be delivered to its destination. The same embodiment may be used to load a container cargo ship with freshly inspected cargo containers and their cargo. Alternate embodiments are disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication 60/892,247 to the same inventor.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process for using a lighter-than-airvehicle (hereinafter, “airship”) for unloading and/or loading cargo fromcargo ships. The method further relates to conducting security and/orcustoms inspection of the cargo onboard the cargo-lifting airship whilethe cargo-lifting airship is in route to the cargo destination with thecargo.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Lighter-than-air aircraft include blimps, dirigibles, and balloons, allof which are varieties of aerostats. Blimps are aerodynamically shapedballoons with propulsion units and optionally with gondolas. TheGoodyear blimp is a well-known example of a blimp. Dirigibles are rigidairships where the outer gas-containing envelope, or hull, has a rigidframe, and the lifting gas is contained in one or more gas bags therein.The Hindenberg is a well-known example of a dirigible. Blimps anddirigibles are referred to collectively as airships. Balloons typicallydo not have lateral propulsion systems, relying instead on lifting ordescending into desirably-directed air currents. Hot air balloons arewell known. Lighter-than-air aircraft obtain lift from buoyant forcesexerted by the atmosphere on a hull substantially filled with alight-weight gas such as hydrogen or helium. Important economies areavailable from airships as compared to fixed-wing aircraft, which mustburn fuel to generate lift.

There are various current airship designs, some of which reprise olderdesigns with updated materials and technology and others generally basedon hybrid designs using buoyant airfoils. The present inventor haspatented a LIGHTER-THAN-AIR TWIN HULL HYBRID AIRSHIP disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 6,843,448.

Port operations worldwide suffer from backlogs in getting cargo shipsinto proximity to the cranes used for off-loading cargo. The decks ofmodern cargo ships are often covered with cargo containers, such as ISOcontainers, which must be removed by a dockside crane. While cargo shipsonce had cranes on their decks, those are now removed to provide moreroom for cargo containers. As a result, modern container cargo shipscannot unload much of their own cargo. Instead, they rely on expensivefixed assets, such as portside cranes, to remove the cargo. The numberof cranes at any port is limited, thereby creating a potentialbottleneck in the cargo transportation system. Recently, 90 containercargo ships were observed off the port of Singapore, awaiting theirturns to unload. This bottleneck represents millions of dollars per dayin lost revenue. Reliance on portside cranes creates a vulnerability tovarious disruptions, such as labor strikes, natural disasters, andman-made disasters.

Another bottleneck in the system is created by the customs and securityinspections required at ports. Eventually, each cargo container willhave to be inspected at the port. The weakness of planned inspectionsystems is that, by the time you find out that the container has aweapon of mass destruction in it, the container is already in the port,and the weapon is at its target: the port.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the inventor presentsthis novel and innovative invention.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to decrease waiting time and unloadingtime for cargo ships at ports. It is a further object of this inventionto save millions of dollars caused by delays in off-loading cargo atports. It is a further object of this invention to provide acargo-lifting airship for a transfer vehicle between the cargo ship andthe shore. It is a further object of this invention to provide forinspection of cargo on board the cargo-lifting airship while thecargo-lifting airship is moving. It is a further object of thisinvention to provide a process for lifting cargo off of container shipsat sea or in harbor. It is a further object of this invention to providea process for lowering cargo onto container ships at sea or in harbor.It is a further object of this invention to provide a means ofoff-loading container ships when the desired port is unavailable. It isa further object of this invention to provide a process for deliveringcargo to a quarantine area at a safe distance from the port. It is afurther object of this invention to provide delivery of cargo to itsdestination. It is a further object of this invention to providedelivery of cargo to another cargo transport device. It is a furtherobject of this invention to provide a method of conducting portoperations in places where no port exists. It is a further object ofthis invention to provide recovery of cargo from the sea.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the invented method provides a cargo-lifting airshipsized and arranged for lifting a cargo container off of a containercargo ship that is operated to secure the cargo container within thecargo-lifting airship and that enables inspection of the cargo while thecargo-lifting airship is in route to a destination. If the cargo failsinspection, the cargo is delivered to a quarantine destination. If theinspection result is that the cargo passes inspection, it may bedelivered to its destination. The destination for passed cargo may beits ultimate destination or an intermediate destination, such as anothertransportation vehicle or depot. The same embodiment may be used to loada container cargo ship with freshly inspected cargo containers and theircargo. Another use for that embodiment provides a cargo-lifting airshipsized and arranged to pick up spilled cargo containers out of the sea,operated for that purpose. In some cases, the first embodiment may beused for this purpose. Another embodiment may provide for otherresponses to cargo that has an inspection result indicating a failedinspection. For example, disarming contraband weapons, performingmaintenance and repair on damaged containers, or performing repair ofdamaged cargo. While moving container cargo is the primary purpose ofthe first embodiment, adapters may be provided for moving other types ofcargo.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following description taken in conjunctionwith the following drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of theprocess of airship port operations, according to a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a first exemplary embodiment of acargo-lifting airship used in the exemplary process of airship portoperations, according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a front diagrammatic view of a second exemplary embodiment ofa cargo-lifting airship used in the exemplary process of airship portoperations, according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a side diagrammatic view of the second exemplary embodiment ofa cargo-lifting airship of FIG. 3 used in the exemplary process ofairship port operations, according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of theinvention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by anyexpressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field,background, brief summary or the following detailed description.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of theprocess of airship port operations 100, according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention. The objective of airship portoperations is to move cargo from one side of an inspection boundary to asecond side of an inspection boundary, realizing that less than allcargo that is picked up should reach the second side of the inspectionboundary. The inspection boundary may be an international border.

One exemplary embodiment of the process 100 is shown as beginning withstep 102. Step 102 provides a cargo-lifting airship with inspectionequipment and personnel. The cargo-lifting airship of step 102 ispreferably a variant of twin-hull cargo-lifting airship as shown in FIG.13 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,448. The cargo-lifting airship has a cargo bayand is outfitted with appropriate inspection equipment, such aselectronic sensors, (i.e., scanners, chemical sniffers), communicationsgear, and the like, to enable the inspection teams to perform theirvarious functions. Space is provided in the cargo-lifting airship andproximate the cargo bay for inspection personnel. Normally, more thanone cargo-lifting airship will be provided per cargo ship. That is, anumber of cargo-lifting airships, in various stages of the process 100,will be operating simultaneously on the cargo of one cargo ship.

In step 104, a decision is made as to whether the present task is aloading or unloading mission. If the purpose is unloading, step 108begins the loading process. The cargo-lifting airship is brought into aposition above the cargo ship, preferably within less than 200 feet ofthe highest point on the cargo ship, and maintains that relativeposition. If the cargo ship is stationary, the cargo-lifting airship mayhover above the cargo ship under manual, autonomous, or remote control.If the cargo ship is underway, the cargo-lifting airship will matchvelocity with the cargo ship in a position above the cargo ship undermanual, autonomous, or remote control. If the cargo to be liftedrequires a special lifting adapter, that adapter is selected andinstalled, preferably on the way to the ship to be unloaded. In somecases, it may be necessary to install the cargo lift adapter prior tothe cargo-lifting airship leaving to go to the cargo ship. Adapters mayinclude cable spreaders, lifting frames, pallets, and combinations ofsuch devices as are known in the art. For bulk cargo, a scoop, tank, orcontainer may serve as the cargo adapter.

In step 108, the cables for lifting the cargo, and the cargo liftadapter, if any, are lowered towards the cargo to be lifted. Workers onthe cargo ship attach the cables to the cargo according to a prearrangedplan, and the cargo-lifting airship reels in the cables to lift thecargo off the cargo ship and into the cargo bay of the cargo-liftingairship. In some embodiments, workers from the cargo-lifting airship maybe lowered with the cables, in order to attach the cables to the cargo.Once the cargo is lifted into place in the cargo bay, the cargo issecured to improve the safety of the inspection teams in step 112. Incases where a particular cargo ship may be delivering some containers toa first port and other containers to a second port, a fleet ofcargo-lifting airships may be provided to remove the containers for thefirst port while the cargo ship is at sea, thereby obviating the needfor one port call.

In step 110, the cargo-lifting airship is propelled, by its ownpropulsion system, toward the destination for the cargo. Thisdestination may be the final destination for the cargo, such as adistributor's warehouse, where the cargo may be lowered for delivery.Alternatively, the destination may be an intermediate transportationvehicle, such as a truck, railroad car, smaller ship, barge, other cargoship, or the like. In cases of high-risk cargo, the original destinationmay be a quarantine area, with quarantine avoided only if the cargo isfound to contain no contraband. Preferably, the cargo is placed as closeto the coast as possible, to allow the cargo-lifting airship to returnto unloading duties as soon as possible. In countries with good highwayinfrastructure and good railway infrastructure, it may be moreeconomical to use surface transportation. In countries without a goodtransportation infrastructure, the cargo-lifting airship may take thecargo to its final destination.

In step 112, the cargo is inspected on board the cargo-lifting airshipwhile it is in route to its destination and the inspection produces aninspection result. The inspection of step 112 may be a customsinspection. The inspection of step 112 may be a security inspection. Theinspection of step 112 may be an immigration and naturalization serviceinspection. In some alternate embodiments, multiple types of inspectionsmay take place. Inspection devices, such as the electronic sensors ofthe type now coming into use at US ports, may be installed in thecargo-lifting airship cargo bay to expedite inspection. The cargo bay ispreferably sized to allow room for the cargo and for inspectors to work.

The time available for inspection may vary significantly, depending onthe distance between the cargo ship and the cargo destination and thespeed of the cargo-lifting airship in the extant weather. In some cases,high-risk cargo may be picked up more than 100 miles off shore, allowingextensive time for inspection, but tying up a lot of human resources forthe trip. In other cases, the cargo ship may be in the harbor, but in along line to get to the port facilities, in which case, the flight timeto the cargo destination may be brief. In some such cases, thecargo-lifting airship may hover until the inspection is completed. Inother such cases, it may be more economical to land the cargo tocomplete one or more of the inspections at the port facilities.Electronic sensing of the cargo may expedite the inspection.

In step 114, a determination is made as to whether or not the cargopasses inspection, i.e. an inspection result is obtained. If the cargodoes not pass inspection in step 114, it may be delivered to quarantinein step 116. The quarantine may be a place on shore or at sea. Forexample, the Department of Homeland Security may maintain a quarantinecargo ship at sea, a safe distance from the shore, to receive especiallydangerous contraband. Different departments of the Government may haveseparate quarantine areas. For example, INS may have one area, perhapsoff shore, for illegal immigrants, while customs agents may have aquarantine area on shore for infringing goods. The contraband may bedirected to any one of various quarantines, depending on the nature andpriority of the contraband.

If the cargo passes inspection in step 114, (a positive inspectionresult) it will be delivered to its destination. This destination may bethe final destination for the cargo, such as a distributor's warehouse,where the cargo may be lowered for delivery. Alternatively, thedestination may be an intermediate transportation vehicle, such as atruck, railroad car, smaller ship, barge, other cargo ship, or the like.Preferably, the destination will be close to shore. However, inparticular cases, the delivery may be made far inland. For example, adelivery of strategic metals from a foreign source may be more securegoing directly to its final destination than being transferred toanother vehicle. For a further example, a container of relief suppliesfor a disaster area may be delivered far inland where the roads havebeen destroyed, as in the recent Pakistani earthquake.

After delivery, the cargo-lifting airship returns to duty in step 120.If the next task is determined, in step 104, to be a loading operation,then the cargo-lifting airship picks up its cargo in step 130 beforeleaving the shore. Various sources of cargo are included within step130. For example, the cargo may picked up from a train (preferablystopped), a truck (preferably parked), a barge, a smaller ship, othercargo ship, or the like, by lowering the cables, attaching the cables tothe cargo container, and then raising the cargo into the cargo bay ofthe cargo-lifting airship. Likewise, the cargo may be picked up off thedock by the same process. In some alternate embodiments, the cargo maybe picked up at the manufacturer's plant and taken to the cargo ship.

Once the cargo is on board in step 130, the cargo-lifting airship ispropelled toward the cargo ship in step 132. The route may not bedirect, as inspectors will be required in a future step 134. In someembodiments, the inspectors may be part of the aircrew. In otherembodiments, the inspectors may be passengers picked up along the way tothe cargo ship in step 132.

The cargo may be inspected in the same manner as incoming cargo or otherstandards may be applied in step 134. If the inspection result indicatesthat the cargo is determined to have failed inspection in step 136, itmay be delivered to quarantine in step 116, as described above. If theoutbound cargo passes inspection, the cargo-lifting airship moves intodelivery position above the cargo ship in step 138. While closelycoordinating with the cargo ship's crew, the cargo is lowered onto thecargo ship and secured there by the cargo ship's crew.

After delivery, the cargo-lifting airship returns to duty for the nexttask in step 120.

Those of skill in the art, informed by the present disclosure, willappreciate that the process 100 enables port operations where no portexists. For example, if Pacific Coast American ports were unavailable,cargo could be received along the Pacific Coast by process 100delivering cargo onto flatbed railroad cars on rails in the coastalstates, onto trucks on local highways, or to the final cargodestination, such as a grocery store or refugee center. For furtherexample, in the case of a hurricane in an urban area along the GulfCoast, emergency supplies could be delivered directly to refugee centersor to neighborhoods. In an alternate embodiment, the cargo may be amodular hospital built into one or more ISO containers, a fresh watersupply, food, water purification equipment, generators, and the like. Inanother alternate embodiment, the cargo-lifting airship may carry a fullfuel bladder as cargo on the way to the cargo ship, at least partiallyrefuel the cargo ship, and then bring cargo back on the return flight.In still another alternate embodiment, a group of cargo-lifting airshipsmay support sections of a portable pipeline between ship and shore forloading or unloading liquid cargo.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a first exemplary embodiment of acargo-lifting airship 200 used in the exemplary process 100 of airshipport operations, according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. The first embodiment of the cargo-lifting airship 200preferably has two portions 202 and 206. The first portion 202 of twoportions 202 and 206 includes the cargo bay 208 and related equipment,as well as at least one expandable cargo hull 204 (preferably, at leasttwo), and mechanisms 210 for expanding and contracting the at least onecargo hull 204. The at least one cargo hull 204 may be contracted tominimize lift when no cargo is loaded, and expanded to lift the cargowhen cargo is loaded, thus solving the ballasting problem thatchallenges other cargo-lifting airships. The mechanisms for contractingand expanding the cargo hull 204 may include, without limitation, pumpsand pressure vessels for pumping gas from the at least one cargo hull tothe pressure vessels and clam-shell cargo hull portions which may beurged together to minimize the displacement of the at least one cargohull 204 and/or to pressurize the gas within the cargo hull 204. Thesecond portion 206 of two portions 202 and 206 of the cargo-liftingairship 200 comprises at least one flight hull 212 sized, shaped, andarranged to lift the first portion 202 when the first portion 202 has nocargo and the at least one cargo hull 204 is contracted. Because the atleast one cargo hull 204 will expand to lift cargo of various weights,the second portion 206 can lift the first portion 206 under any cargoload conditions within design limits.

FIG. 3 is a front diagrammatic view of a second exemplary embodiment ofa cargo-lifting airship 300 used in the exemplary process of airshipport operations 100, according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. The second embodiment of the cargo-lifting airship 300 isdesigned for neutral buoyancy with cargo loaded without the use ofexpanding and contracting cargo hulls 204. The cargo-lifting airship 300is coupled to at least one container 304 for taking on water, includingseawater, having a weight up to the maximum cargo weight for theparticular design. When the cargo-lifting airship 300 lands to delivercargo, the cargo-lifting airship takes on water, achieving temporarynegative buoyancy, and then releases the cargo, thereby achievingneutral buoyancy again. When the cargo-lifting airship lands to pickupcargo, it achieves temporary negative buoyancy from taking on the cargo,and then discharges the water to achieve neutral buoyancy for flight.Preferably, the water ballast container 304 may act as a scoop to takeon water near the dock where the cargo is to be delivered, therebyobviating the need for a pump. Likewise, release valves in the waterballast container 304 may obviate the need for pumps when dischargingthe water. Water ballast container 304 may be suspended by cables 302and withdrawn upward, when empty, into the frame of the cargo-liftingairship 300. In a particular embodiment, the water ballast container 304may be made of heavy fabric.

FIG. 4 is a side diagrammatic view of the second exemplary embodiment ofa cargo-lifting airship 300 of FIG. 3 used in the exemplary process ofairship port operations 100, according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The side diagrammatic view aids in understanding thatthe cargo-lifting airship 300 may pick up or deliver cargo whilestraddling a pier or ship. With the cargo-lifting airship 300 straddlingthe pier or ship cross-wise, the water ballast containers 304 may belowered before cargo is released to fill the water ballast containers304 with water and preserve neutral buoyancy after the cargo isreleased. Likewise, water ballast containers 304 may be emptied whencargo is picked up. The cargo picked up from a pier may be directlypicked up from a land vehicle, such as a truck or a train, on the pier.

While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in theforegoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vastnumber of variations exist. While the primary (and highly economical)purpose of the cargo-lifting airship is port operations 100, those ofskill in the art, enlightened by this disclosure, will appreciate thealternate operations that can be conducted with such an cargo-liftingairship with no or minor variations in the cargo-lifting airship. Forexample, the cargo lifted by the cargo-lifting airship could be anoperational payload for communications, surveillance, command andcontrol, monitoring, or any other operation that can be conducted froman airborne platform with affordable operating costs and indefinitelylong airborne loiter time. For further example, the cargo containercould be an air ambulance module for evacuating multiple casualties froma disaster area at a time. For further example, the cargo may be a landvehicle or marine vehicle, such as an entire truck or a boat that is tobe moved to a new location for prompt operation there. For furtherexample, the cargo may be a disabled vehicle that needs to be removedfor maintenance and repair. In one alternate embodiment, a new vehiclemay be delivered to replace a disabled one, and the disabled one maythen be retrieved using the same cargo adapter. In another alternateembodiment, the cargo may be a modular repair shop for field equipmentof any kind. In yet another alternate embodiment, the cargo may be asmall manufacturing plant for manufacturing goods from raw materialspicked up from cargo ships. While it may not be economical to providecargo-lifting airships solely for the alternative processes justdescribed, once the cargo-lifting airships are built for port operations100, they may be pressed into alternative service in an emergency. Thosedesiring alternative processes need only construct the appropriate“cargo” and possibly a cargo adapter for the mission. In yet anotheralternate embodiment, the cargo adapter may be a truss for coupling twoor more cargo-lifting airships together for lifting exceptionally heavycargo. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment orexemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limitthe scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way.Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled inthe art with a convenient road map for implementing the exemplaryembodiment or exemplary embodiments. It should be understood thatvarious changes can be made in the function and arrangement of elementswithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims and the legal equivalents thereof.

1. A process for using a cargo-lifting airship for moving cargo across alegally established inspection boundary, such boundary having a firstside and a second side, the process comprising the steps of: a.providing a cargo-lifting airship; b. loading such cargo onboard saidcargo-lifting airship on such first side of such inspection boundary;and c. inspecting such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship.
 2. Theprocess of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: a. obtaining aninspection result from the step of inspecting such cargo onboard saidcargo-lifting airship; and b. determining a destination for such cargobased at least partially on said inspection result.
 3. The process ofclaim 2, wherein said destination is quarantine.
 4. The process of claim2, wherein said destination is on a second side of such inspectionboundary.
 5. The process of claim 4, wherein said destination is a finaldestination of such cargo.
 6. The process of claim 1, wherein the stepof providing a cargo-lifting airship comprises the step of providing aproviding a cargo-lifting airship comprising at least one cargo hull. 7.The process of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a cargo-liftingairship comprises the step of providing a providing a cargo-liftingairship comprising at least one water ballast container.
 8. The processof claim 1, wherein the step of loading such cargo onboard saidcargo-lifting airship comprises the step of loading such cargo from aship.
 9. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of loading such cargoonboard said cargo-lifting airship comprises the step of loading suchcargo from a land vehicle.
 10. The process of claim 1, wherein the stepof inspecting such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship comprisesthe step of electronic sensing.
 11. A process for using a cargo-liftingairship for moving cargo across a legally established inspectionboundary, such boundary having a first side and a second side, theprocess comprising the combination of the steps of: a. providing acargo-lifting airship; b. loading such cargo onboard said cargo-liftingairship on such first side of such inspection boundary; c. inspectingsuch cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship; d. obtaining aninspection result from the step of inspecting such cargo onboard saidcargo-lifting airship; e. determining a destination for such cargo basedat least partially on said inspection result; and f. delivering suchcargo to said destination on such second side of such destinationboundary.
 12. The process of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:a. loading another such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship on suchsecond side of such inspection boundary; b. inspecting such cargoonboard said cargo-lifting airship; c. obtaining an inspection resultfrom the step of inspecting such cargo onboard said cargo-liftingairship; d. determining a destination for such cargo based at leastpartially on said inspection result; and e. delivering such cargo tosaid destination on such first side of such destination boundary. 13.The process of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: a. loadinganother such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship on such secondside of such inspection boundary; b. inspecting such cargo onboard saidcargo-lifting airship; c. obtaining an inspection result from the stepof inspecting such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship; d.determining a destination for such cargo based at least partially onsaid inspection result; and e. delivering such cargo to said destinationon such second side of such destination boundary.
 14. The process ofclaim 11, wherein the step of providing a cargo-lifting airshipcomprises the step of providing a providing a cargo-lifting airshipcomprising at least one cargo hull.
 15. The process of claim 11, whereinthe step of providing a cargo-lifting airship comprises the step ofproviding a providing a cargo-lifting airship comprising at least onewater ballast container.
 16. The process of claim 11, wherein the stepof loading such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship comprises thestep of loading such cargo from a ship.
 17. The process of claim 11,wherein the step of loading such cargo onboard said cargo-liftingairship comprises the step of loading such cargo from a land vehicle.18. A process for using a cargo-lifting airship for moving cargo acrossa legally established inspection boundary, such boundary having a firstside and a second side, the process comprising the combination of thesteps of: a. providing a cargo-lifting airship; b. loading such cargoonboard said cargo-lifting airship on such first side of such inspectionboundary; c. inspecting such cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship;d. obtaining an inspection result from the step of inspecting such cargoonboard said cargo-lifting airship; e. determining a destination forsuch cargo based at least partially on said inspection result; and f.delivering such cargo to said destination on such second side of suchdestination boundary; g. loading another such cargo onboard saidcargo-lifting airship on such second side of such inspection boundary;h. inspecting such other cargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship; i.obtaining an inspection result from the step of inspecting such othercargo onboard said cargo-lifting airship; j. determining a destinationfor such other cargo based at least partially on said inspection result;and k. delivering such cargo to said destination on such first side ofsuch destination boundary.
 19. The process of claim 18, wherein the stepof providing a cargo-lifting airship comprises the step of providing aproviding a cargo-lifting airship comprising at least one cargo hull.20. The process of claim 18, wherein the step of providing acargo-lifting airship comprises the step of providing a providing acargo-lifting airship comprising a water ballast container.